The Ghost Hunters
by LWSD4Ever
Summary: This is a story I am working on for Creative Writing Club for Halloween. It's not really based on any book, I just got the idea randomly, so... yeah.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The house sat on the hill, looming over the town in an ominous way. For over a hundred years, the house had say empty. The people of Little Hawk had crept past the mansion for as long as they could remember. The elders of the town would not speak of it, and the kids would joke about going inside. Jamie McClurke was the first to get close enough to touch the door. The only person who had ever gone inside, Bryin Tam, was never seen again. Since then, the town held a memorial in his honor every year on the day he disappeared, Halloween 1987.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Tyler, I said NO," Luke Miller said, angrily slamming his locker shut.

"Please, Luke, please. You don't have to go in, you can just stand outside, and I can signal you if I need help," Tyler protested.

"Ty, it's Halloween. All the weirdoes are out. And we're not supposed to be in there. Remember Bryin? The memorial service for _twenty years_ is tomorrow night! How can you still think to go in there?" asked Luke.

"Bryin was an idiot, haven't you heard the stories? He didn't even bring an extra flashlight, and he didn't tell _anyone._ They thought he had run away. You'll know I'm in there, I'll have my phone, 2 flashlights, rope, and a couple of ham sandwiches."

"Ham?" Luke laughed.

"Yeah, everyone knows ghosts are afraid of ham, duh," Tyler said.

"What makes you think there's ghosts? It's just a creepy old house," said Luke.

"Dude, it's not _JUST_ a house, it's a ghost infested house. Don't 'cha know that there were chain saw men who hid out there in the first World War so they didn't have to go and fight?"

"Whatever, do whatever you want, but I'm not going," said Luke.

"Fine! I'll ask someone else."

"Like _who?_"

Luke's twin sister, Lydia, came bouncing around the corner.

"Hey Lydia! Wanna go on a stake-out with me tomorrow?" asked Tyler.

"Sure! Where?" asked Lydia.

"Oh, nowhere special, just the haunted house," Tyler said breezily.

"I guess so… Luke, you comin'?" asked Lydia.

"No, and I just finished explaining to Ty why I wasn't, and why you aren't either!"

"Why not?" asked Lydia.

"Because," Luke said impatiently. "Friday is the twenty-ith anniversary. Something badis going to happen, I can tell you right now. Something bad _always _happens on the anniversaries."

"Luke, lighten _up!_ Friday's Halloween, how many chances are you gonna get like this? Fifty years from now, when you're telling your grand-kids about your high school experience, you'll look back and wish you had the guts to go inside."

Luke sighed and fidgeted with the strap on his backpack. "This is a bad idea," he said.

Lydia nodded excitedly. "And we'll be in _soooo _much trouble," Luke continued.

"Not possible," said Lydia quickly. "I'll plan it all out. Don't worry about a thing."

"What about taking Lillie trick or treating?" asked Luke. "Mom said we _had _to, or else."

"And why should we care about what Mom said?" Lydia asked. "Dad can take Lil, and we're free. We have lives too."

Luke blanched at her, and shook his head furiously. "We can debate this later, class starts in five minutes. I'll see you at lunch."

Luke hurried off, leaving Lydia and Tyler staring after him.

Later that day during lunch, Lydia and Tyler debated the haunted house "situation." Luke flew over from the lunch line and slammed his tray down.

"You spilled some peas," Tyler pointed with a grin.

"What's up with you, dude?" asked Lydia.

Luke glared at them both. "We have to write an essay."

Tyler and Lydia exchanged a look, not understanding the problem. "So? Luke, you _like _essays."

Luke frowned at Tyler. "Yes, but this is an essay for _fun._" Shuddering at the thought, he continued. "It's on what we know about Bryin Tam."

"I've heard that somewhere before…" Tyler said, scratching his head.

Luke gave him a disgusted look. "The Hite house."

"What?"

"The Hite house, on the hill…"

"He means the haunted house," Lydia supplied.

"Oh! Well, why didn't you just say that?" asked Tyler.

"Not funny," Luke mumbled.

"I'm laughing," Tyler smirked. Lydia rolled her eyes and punched his arm lightly.

"This just goes to show you how bad an idea this is," Luke said.

"Oh yeah, Dude, it's a sign," Tyler said.

Lydia muffled a laugh. "Totally!"

Luke frowned at them. "I'm SERIOUS!"

"So are we!" Lydia cried. "Look, no one said you _have _to come, but it'd be more fun than towing an eight year old witch-mummy around town."

"Witch-mummy?" Tyler laughed, raising an eyebrow.

"Lil couldn't make up her mind, so…" Luke replied.

Tyler laughed again. "That's hilarious!"

Luke blushed and tossed a fry at him. Tyler dodged it and stuck out his tongue.

"You guys are _so _immature," Lydia rolled her eyes.

"We need to be planning our stake-out," Tyler said, suddenly serious. "Are you in, or not?"

Luke sighed, "If Mom says it's okay…"

"Luke!" Lydia exploded. "You _CANNOT_ tell!"

"But, how do I get out of babysitting Lillie?"

"We're going to a party at Tyler's," Lydia explained innocently. "Nothing wrong with that."

"Haha! _Sure_. A party, at Tyler's. What a _good _idea."

"What's wrong with my house?" asked Tyler indignantly.

"Nothing's wrong with your _house._ But do you remember your last party?" Luke replied.

Tyler put a finger to his temple, "hmmmm, nope. Nothing I can recollect."

"Does frog legs in the cake, a 5,000 dollar broken Parisian vase, and singed eyebrows ring a bell?"

Lydia cracked up. "That was awesome!"

Luke rolled his eyes.

"Look, you don't have to come, but it'd be a lot more fun if you did."

"I don't even like Halloween," Luke sighed in defeat.

"YES!" Tyler cheered, causing the cheerleaders at the table over to stop talking, turn around and stare.

"Quiet! But I'm only coming so I can write my essay superiorly, and we better be back by eleven-thirty. All the weird stuff happens at midnight, so we should be safe. And I don't want to be out too late past my bedtime," Luke said.

Tyler and Lydia looked at each other and shook their heads; this was going to take _a lot _of work.

As soon as the bell rang to end eighth period, Tyler shoved his notebook into his backpack and ran out of the classroom. He caught up with Lydia on the way to Luke's locker.

"Hey! Miller!" Tyler called down the hallway.

Luke turned around, with a frown plastered on his face.

"What's up?" Lydia asked.

"Edwin heard us," he whispered.

"Edweirdo, so what?" Tyler said.

"He said he's going to tell his Mom. And our Moms' go to the garden, Pilates, and book clubs together. He knows his Mom'll tell ours, then our's will tell yours. It's a disaster!"

Tyler was shaking his head halfway through the speech. "Where is this Edweirdo? Once I talk to him, he'll forget _all _about it, trust me."

"He's in chess club right now. They get out at four. But he will have all his chess buddies to back him up if you try to pick a fight," Luke warned.

Tyler just laughed. "Ah, little Luke, how naïve you are. Don't you know chess club people will do anything to avoid conflict, trust me, I know a guy who knows a guy who has a cousin who knows a girl who dates a guy. Nothing'll stop me."

Luke looked at Lydia, who just shrugged. "Okay, go ahead. We'll wait out by the bike rack for you."

Luke hurried to pack his bag and shut his locker. He spun the lock, then followed Lydia outside.

Lydia played with one of her brown curls while Luke read his science textbook. "No, no, no. Sodium Chloride is an ionic compound, not a covalent…."

Lydia gave him a look. "Luke, do you _have _to edit the science books. They _pay_ people to do that."

Luke glared at her, but didn't say a word. A few minutes later, Tyler came bounding down the steps.

"So?" Luke said, snapping his book shut. "Did you find Edwin?"

"Oh, I found him all right," Tyler grinned, skipping down the steps.

"_And?_" Lydia asked.

"Let's just say he won't tell on us…"

"What'd you do to him?" Luke asked.

"Well, ya know that maple syrup, tar, and feathers are not a very good combination..."

"You carry around all that stuff?" Luke asked in admiration.

"You don't?" Tyler said. "Anywho, let's say his body now matches his scrawny chicken legs."

Lydia giggled. "Nice one. Are you sure he won't tell though?"

Tyler nodded, "it's kinda hard to talk when your mouth is syrup and feathered shut."

Luke frowned, "you didn't hurt him, did you? We don't need anyone trying to blackmail us later."

"Luke, don't worry. If anyone's going to be blackmailing anyone else, it'll be me," Tyler said.  
"Or Lydia," he added as an afterthought.

Lydia grinned and nodded. "Oh yeah."

"So, where are we going?" asked Luke.

"Anyone up for some cheesecake?" asked Tyler.

Lydia jumped up and grabbed her bag, "you know it!"

The trio hurried to Tyler's house.

"Mom made four cheesecakes last night, and she didn't say anything about me not eating them, so… there's blueberry, strawberry, blackberry, and plain ones. What do you guys want?"

"Blueberry please," Luke and Lydia said in unison.

They sat down and dug into their food.

"So," Tyler said, licking strawberry off of his lips. "Where do we start?"

"Well, we need rope, flashlights, snacks, black clothes, and sneakers," Lydia rattled off, counting on her fingers.

"Okay, I'll get the rope, and some extra batteries. You guys get the food, don't forget ham and salt, and the flashlights," Tyler delegated.

Lydia nodded, as did Luke.

"What about walkie-talkies?" asked Luke. "Those would be useful."

"Luke, that's what cellular phones are for," Tyler said. "You know, they flip open and you can talk on them from 100 miles away. Welcome to the 21st century!"

Luke frowned at him, but didn't press the subject.

"We need a name," Lydia said after a moment. "And code names, too."

Tyler nodded excitedly. "Yeah! I'll be, I'll be the… the Excellent Eagle! Nothin' stops the eagle, nothin'!"

"Except DDT," Luke mumbled under his breath.

Lydia laughed, "and I'm the… The Fox."

Both turned expectantly to Luke, who sighed. "I guess, if Mom catches us that is, I'm the Good Child, Usually the _Victim_."

Lydia laughed. "Mom isn't gonna find out. Stop freaking, you're messing up the energy in the room."

"What would _you _know about _energy?"_ Luke sneered. "You failed your bio test the other day, on the transfer and use of energy."

Lydia flipped a curl over her shoulder. "You know what Luke,"

"Hey, stop it!" Tyler yelled. "We both know Luke is smarticle, you don't have to rub it in."

Luke glared at him and picked at the remaining cheesecake on his plate.

"Okay, so we need to work on our name," Lydia said. "I was thinking something like, The Great Lydia and…"

"Don't even _finish _that," Tyler groaned. "How about…"

"The Three Kids Gang," said Luke. "Or, The Secret Kids Group."

"Luke, those have to be the most _boring _names I've ever heard," Lydia yawned.

"But they're accurate!" Luke argued.

"If we want to be accurate we might as well call ourselves the Doomed to Fail group, honestly!" Lydia cried. "We can't even _name _ourselves!"

"C'mon guys, stop it," Tyler said. "How about the Ghost Hunters?"

Lydia thought a moment. "Huh, it's short… and catchy," a smile stretched across her face. "Sure!"

"I like it," Luke said.

"It's settled then, we're the Ghost Hunters, G.H. for short."

The garage door opened suddenly.

"Hello kids, what are you up to?" Mrs. Chestfild said, dropping grocery bags on the counter.

"Nothing!" they chorused.

Mrs. Chestfild chuckled and finished putting away the groceries. "Do I want to know?"

"We're not up to anything, Mom. Just chatting about Algebra 2 homework and eating cheesecake," Tyler said.

"Tyler, you're not even _in _algebra," his Mom laughed.

"So, Luke isn't either!" Tyler exclaimed.

"I already finished Algebra, I'm in pre-calc," Luke mumbled.

"Nothing to worry about," Tyler said.

His Mom shook her head and began pouring bags of candy into a Halloween bucket. Tyler's eyes lit up and he licked his lips.

"Tyler, no touching the candy. It's for trick-or-treaters'," she waggled a finger at him.

Tyler grinned sheepishly, "c'mon! Just one piece?"

"No, _none_." She picked up the bucket and placed it in the cupboard over the fridge, high out of Tyler's reach.

"She always plays on my vertically-challenged-ness," Tyler sighed.

Lydia grinned at him and said, "c'mon, let's actually do our homework. We need to be good little angels so they don't suspect anything…"

Tyler grinned, "me? An angel?! Who are we kidding…?"


End file.
